


Wherever, Whenever

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Devotion, Established Relationship, F/M, Inigo's really grown up, Promises, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 22:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9404816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: It's time to tell her the truth about himself.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EvilMuffins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/gifts).



Even as she sits down beside him on the bed, he's still not sure if this is the right thing to do. She poured her heart out to him about her mother and he promised he'd help her overcome the trauma that warped her into a childish murderer, teach her right from wrong not just for their sakes but for Lord Xander's and their future children.

He's supposed to be helping her. Is it right to pour _his_ own secrets and traumas onto her? It feels almost selfish.

"Well, Laslow? What is it you have to tell Peri?"

He turns to her with a soft sigh. He owes her the truth, but he's not sure he can handle her knowing it. What if she gets angry at him for lying? Or cries because she feels so sorry for him?

_Get a grip, Laslow, you know that last thing won't happen. She's not the type to pity a person like that._

"It's a long story. I'm not just saying that, either," he says.

"It must be a sad one, because Lord Xander says you're not smiling as much lately and Keaton says you're way too distracted! Odin and Selena keep looking at you, too!" Because they _know,_ Laslow was the first one of them to fall in love in this new life and when it happens for them they'll have to deal with the same thing.

"It is. Peri...first of all, my real name is Inigo," he said, and then the rest of the story just _spills_ from him. The loss of his parents, the war with Grima, Lucina, Naga, how they all tried to go back in time to change the future. Meeting another version of his mother, how Odin ( _Owain_ ) almost sacrificed his _life_ to cover for their friends' escape, seeing his world, his _home_ overrun with death. How a mysterious figure called him, Odin and Selena ( _Severa_ ) through the gate to this world. The homesickness.

Peri is completely silent, holding onto his hand with both of hers. She squeezes tighter and tighter, tears filling her eyes, and when he's finished he feels _drained_ and he doesn't realize he's started to cry until he feels her wiping away the tears with her fingers.

"Peri never realized..." She hugs him so tightly he can barely breathe. "I'm _sorry,_ Laslow, I'm so _sorry,_ all that stuff I said about killing, you really _do_ know what it's like and, and, and-" She's crying now, too, and he holds onto her like a lifeline. She's so warm, she smells like berries and flour, and even through his clothing he can feel the calluses on her hands as she rubs his back.

"Sorry," he murmurs once he finds his voice again. "I didn't plan to start crying all over you." He looks up at her. "You're not mad that I kept all of this from you?"

"No! Peri just feels _awful_ for you going through that! Losing your mommy like I lost mine!" She tightens her hold on him, sniffling. "But, Laslow, when this is over, are you going to go back there?"

"That's another thing." He sighs, leaning into her. "I _want_ to, there's one version of that world we managed to save and I want to see my mother and father again. At first I thought I'd take you and any children we had with me, but..."

"But then we'd be breaking our promise to Lord Xander," Peri says quietly. "He's not all alone now that he's got a wife and a baby on the way, but we're his _retainers._ "

"Unless there was a way I could keep going back and forth through the gate, which there probably isn't," Laslow murmurs. "So what should we do?"

"I don't know." She brushes his hair away from his face. "But Peri will be with you no matter what you decide, because she wants to help you just like you promised to help her!" There's a layer of maturity under that childish way of speaking, just like Odin said he could sense something new in Laslow.

Back home, Inigo could barely get a date if his life depended on it. He was the butt of so many sharp comments or jokes among his friends, and deep down he knew he was a shy loser who only tried to get so many dates to compensate for being a shy loser.

But here, Laslow feels like he had more of a _purpose._ He flirts, tries to get dates, but he lives to serve Lord Xander. He has friends who see more to him than a pathetic loser, he feeels like he understood people better.

And most of all, he finally understands _love._ What his parents had, what Lucina felt for Laurent back home, what Lord Xander had with his wife. Knowing someone wasn't perfect, a _mess_ , and still wanting to be with them more than anyone. Not being able to picture life without them.

Peri. His partner, his soon-to-be wife, the future mother of his children.

"Thank you," he murmurs, cuddling closer to her. "I promise, no matter where I go after this, you'll be with me." And then his stomach growls, and he blushes a little. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay! Peri's a little hungry, too. Why don't we go have some of the tarts I made earlier?"

"Sounds wonderful."

They bring a plate of tarts and some tea back to his quarters and spend the next few hours eating and talking, discussing their innermost thoughts, feelings and fears and knowing that each has found what they need in the other.


End file.
